If you don't have an emergency savings fund, how can you handle unplanned expenses? The answer is incurring debt, possibly at a level that you may not be able to handle.
Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate.com, refers to an emergency savings account as "the buffer between you and high-interest debt."
A good rule of thumb is to have 3-6 months' worth of expenses available as a cash buffer to handle unexpected expenses or temporary loss of income. Unfortunately, the recently released HomeServe Biannual State of the Home Survey revealed that far too many Americans lack a sufficient emergency savings fund. Almost one-third (31%) of survey respondents had less than $500 as a cash buffer for unexpected expenses, and 19% reported having no emergency savings at all.
The survey did find some level of preparedness, especially among older Americans. Just over one-quarter (26%) of survey respondents reported having at least $8,000 set aside in an emer...
from MoneyTips https://www.moneytips.com/1-in-5-have-no-emergency-savings/338
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